Virat Kohli picked his all time RCB XI but left out Josh Hazlewood and Mohammed Siraj from the lineup.
In a video posted by the IPL 2025 champions, when asked about his favourite XI, Kohli named himself and Chris Gayle as the openers. Kohli has played for RCB since the start and has scored 8661 runs at an average of 39.54 and a strike rate of 132.85, including eight centuries and 63 half centuries.
Chris Gayle played for RCB from 2011 to 2017 and, in 84 innings, scored 3163 runs at an average of 43.32 and a strike rate of 152.72, including five centuries and 19 half centuries.
At No. 3 comes AB de Villiers, who during his time was one of the best batters in the tournament. De Villiers played for RCB from 2011 to 2021, and in that period he scored 4491 runs in 144 innings at an average of 41.2 and a strike rate of 158.63, including two centuries and 37 half centuries.
KL Rahul played for his home side in 2013 and then again in 2016. In 14 innings, he scored 417 runs at an average of 37.9 and a strike rate of 145.29, including four half centuries.
At No. 5 comes Rajat Patidar, who became the first captain for RCB to lift an IPL trophy after winning it in IPL 2025. Rajat has been in the side since 2021 and has scored 1111 runs in 38 innings at an average of 30.86 and a strike rate of 154.3, including one century and nine half centuries.
Dinesh Karthik comes at No. 6 in the middle order in Kohli’s XI. Karthik first played for RCB in 2015 and then came back in 2022 and played till 2024. He scored 937 runs for them at an average of 24.65 and a strike rate of 162.95, including three fifties.
Harshal Patel started his career with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2012 and was there till 2017. He later came back in 2021 and stayed till 2023. In total, he played 80 matches for them and in 77 innings took 99 wickets, which is the most by any pacer for the franchise till now.
Anil Kumble was part of the franchise right from the start till 2010. He even led the franchise for two seasons in 2009 and 2010. While playing for RCB, Anil Kumble picked up 45 wickets in 42 matches and conceded at an economy rate of 6.57.
Mitchell Starc, the Australia pacer, was with Royal Challengers Bengaluru for two seasons in 2014 and 2015. He made an impact in both seasons as he took 14 wickets in the first season and then 20 in the next.
Dale Steyn has also played for RCB and is one of the players mentioned by Kohli in his XI. Steyn was part of RCB from the start till 2010 and then came back again in 2019 for two seasons. He played 33 matches in total and took 32 wickets.
At No. 11 comes Yuzvendra Chahal, who is still the leading wicket taker for RCB till now. Having played for them from 2014 to 2021, Chahal has 139 wickets in 112 innings. He is still far ahead in the charts even though he has not played for them since 2021. The second best is Harshal Patel, who has 99 wickets.
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In his XI, Virat Kohli omitted Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood. Siraj is third on the list of leading wicket takers for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He played for them from 2018 to 2024 and picked up 83 wickets, but Harshal Patel had more wickets than him and also made a bigger impact.
Hazlewood, on the other hand, played a huge role for them in IPL 2025, which helped them lift the title. He took 22 wickets that season. Before that, he played for them in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In total, he has picked up 45 wickets in 27 matches. Kohli picked Mitchell Starc and Dale Steyn as the two overseas pacers in his XI.
Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Anil Kumble, Mitchell Starc, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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